Just before the holidays we made a bunch of twig ornaments for our family get together and they went over quite well.  Not that anyone in my family would dare tell me otherwise, wink, wink!! Anyways,  I really liked the rustic yet organized texture that comes about from lining up something as simple and abundant as fallen twigs. We gather them up all the time for kindling.  I salvaged  some out of our kindling pile to try my hand at making a heart-shaped twig trivet a la Valentine’s Day.Honestly, I wasn’t sure if it would end up looking like a heart, but in the end, a heart shaped trivet I had.

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How to make a heart shaped twig trivet:

I had to change up the steps a little from the twig ornaments, but other than that, it is very similar .

Supplies

A small bundle of twigs with a diameter somewhere between a pencil and a sharpie marker

You can collect them from your yard or find them pre-cut like these 5.6″ twigs or these 6″ twigs

Pruning type garden shears

Corrugated cardboard pieces (I used the side of a card board shipping box)

Craft paint

Hot glue gun and glue sticks, or this quick grab glue

Scissors

Pencil

Piece of paper

Prep or gather twigs

1) Collect a bundle of twigs.  Aim to choose twigs that are more straight than crooked.  Discard any that have fungi type spots. If you don’t want to collect them from your yard, you purchase pre-cut like these 5.6″ twigs or these 6″ twigs.

If you do collect the twigs from your yard. Lay the twigs on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven at 200 (f) for 45 minutes to de-bug any critters. You may need to break down the length on some of the twigs, so they fit on the cookie sheet.

Make the heart template

2) Fold the piece of paper in half and draw half  of a heart shape.

NOTE: Make sure your heart shape size will co-inside with your twig length if you go with the packaged pre-cut twigs, You want your diagonal to be about 5 to 6 inches.

3) Unfold and pencil draw in the other half of the heart.  This step in only to be sure that you like the heart shape.

If it’s a keeper, re-fold paper and cut out the half-heart, unfold and you have your full heart shape

4) Lay heart-shaped paper onto the piece of cardboard and trace with a pencil.

5) Cut out heart shape on cardboard.  Make at least one extra cardboard heart for your template.

Paint

6) Paint both sides of cardboard heart with craft paint in the color of your choice

Glue down the twigs and trim to shape

7) Break, cut  or snip twigs so that they are slightly longer or bigger than the heart, and then lay them down on the template heart.  I choose a diagonal design.

Tip:  keep a trash can handy and rub off any bark that is flaking.  The missing bark will only add to the variegated texture of the final piece.

8) Using the glue gun or a fast drying glue, glue one twig at a time to the other cardboard heart.  Using the template will help guide you in the placement of the twigs.

Tip: apply a strip of hot glue, lay down the twig, and then run another strip of glue along the underside of the twig to make sure you didn’t miss any spots. Then go on to the next twig. Snug them up like sardines, as best you can.

9) Once all twigs are on the cardboard heart, and the glue feels like it has hardened and nothing is loose, flip the trivet to the backside and snip off the over hanging twigs with a pair of garden shears.

I would not suggest using these twig trivets while cooking with hot pans right from the stove, but I think the Valentine heart twig trivet would be really pretty in a table setting when used for serving hot dishes, appetizers or tea.  See more Valentine’s Day ideas here. Thank you for stopping by ~ Amy

Linking up to: (Also see link party page)

Funky Junk/ Salvaged Hearts and Valentines

Funky Junk/ Twigs and Branches

 

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